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September 24, 2012

list.in.to.chicago this week: 09.24.2012

It's okay if you're jealous because I'm going to see Prince tonight. And Friday might get short shrift because something was wonky with the Reader's online listings.

Pick of the week
It's a nostalgic pick to be sure, but I'm really looking forward to Peter Gabriel at the United Center on Thursday, and I just hope my mom doesn't find the two cases of beer we stashed in my brother's car for the tailgate. No, wait, that was the original So tour. Prince is a no-brainer between now and Wednesday if you can afford it and find tickets.

There's also Michael Kiwanuka at Park West on Wednesday and Robert Glasper at House of Blues on Thursday, both of which I would probably be seeing if I didn't already have tickets for another show.

list.in.to.COZ
Once again, Diver is at Fado on Saturday. Also, Vaughan's on Tuesday.

Recap
I sort of take for granted the pervasiveness of in-ear monitors and wireless microphones until I see an eight-piece horn section dancing all over the stage for David Byrne & St. Vincent. The choreography gave the show a whole other dimension, while the horns themselves offered a great context for the material, to the point where it reminded me of earlier St. Vincent tours where she had multi-instrumentalists covering wind instruments on some songs. And it turns out I know one of the saxophonists. Very enjoyable.

Another high point of the week was the song "Low Times" from School of Seven Bells on Friday. I thought their whole set overshadowed headliner Silversun Pickups, who had some serious technical issues but also some structural faults that became more apparent when I saw them do their taping for JBTV on Saturday. Namely, the drummer's time is really shaky -- in part because he's trying too hard to look cool -- and the guitarist's sound comes across as all effect and no tone. So while the songs are well-written, and the singing is quite good, there's a foundation that's just missing. And Atlas Genius were very nice, in that same largely inoffensive way as Snow Patrol.

Rounding out the week, Rodriguez was just as adorable on Thursday as you would expect from a 70-year old whose Dylan-esque material has been rediscovered as if it were preserved in amber. And Cloud Nothings put in a blistering set to videotape for WBEZ on Monday that came across like stoner rock played at 45rpm.

9.24   monday
Prince (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think three nights constitutes a "residency" for the Purple One, although when you combine that with the "after jams" at House of Blues, maybe that qualifies. I saw some additional tickets get released earlier today, so keep an eye on Twitter.

Prince (House of Blues)
They just announced a midnight show here after each of the United Center gigs. Nice to know Prince isn't slowing down pretty much at all.

First Aid Kit with Dylan LeBlanc (Metro)
I've seen this mentioned a few times in the "music recommendations for Monday that are not Prince," so there's that.

9.25   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
Not quite an "after jam," but I don't think Prince is going to let you get up on stage and sing a few songs on an acoustic guitar down at his jam.

Ed Sheeran with Passenger, Selah Sue (Riviera Theatre)
I've never heard of this 21-year old British singer/songwriter, so I was really curious to see how he'd gotten big enough for this room without ever getting on my radar. Turns out he's co-written a song with One Direction, had his debut record go quadruple platinum in the U.K., and covered Pink Floyd for the closing cermonies of the London Olympics.

Ani DiFranco with Pearl & The Beard (The Vic)
We know DiFranco has been able to translate her relentless DIY ethic into a career, but I'd really love to know just how strong of a career. Are we talking, just enough to get by over the years, or has cutting out all those middlemen put her on par with big-name artists? Probably in the middle somewhere, but where?

Here We Go Magic (Subterranean)
Last seen (by me) opening for White Rabbits about two years ago, in which the lead singer rubbed me the wrong way just a bit and the band had an interesting ambient world music vibe.

Prince (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
See Monday's listing.

Prince (House of Blues)
See Monday's listing.

9.26   wednesday
Blondie and DEVO (Chicago Theatre)
I really, really enjoyed DEVO when they played Lollapalooza a few years ago, and Something for Everybody was one of my favorite albums of that year as well. Too bad drummer Josh Freese isn't doing this tour. It will definitely be interesting to see Debbie Harry so soon after seeing Shirley Manson, and I've heard Blondie has gotten a bit sharper after their somewhat ragged re-entry into touring several years back.

Michael Kiwanuka with Bahamas, Yuna (Park West)
You may recall that I liked this guy when I saw him a few months ago at this year's Lollapalooza. A bit of a low-key, jazzy vibe, to be sure, but he does it really well.

John Scofield Trio (SPACE, Evanston)
One of my favorite jazz guitarists, but I don't think I've ever actually seen him play live.

Prince (United Center)   SOLD OUT!
See Monday's listing.

Prince (House of Blues)
See Monday's listing.

9.27   thursday
Peter Gabriel (United Center)
It's the 25th anniversary of Gabriel's breakthrough So tour, and yes, I did see it the first time. He's gotten that band back together and will be playing the album in its entirety and I've seen indication that some of the stage and lighting design might reference that tour as well.

Robert Glasper (House of Blues)
His Black Radio album is a great synthesis of jazz and modern R&B, in much the same way as some of Roy Hargrove's stuff from a decade ago, but without the strong hip-hop component. One of my favorite records of the year.

Ben Harper (Cadillac Palace Theatre)
I feel like Harper got a shot of adrenaline when he did that wonderful record with the Relentless 7, but I haven't been keeping tabs to see how he's built off of that.

Raveonettes with Melody's Echo Chamber, Cold Showers (Lincoln Hall)
The Danish indie band plays Chicago often enough that it's getting to be ridiculous that I haven't ever seen them live.

Dry the River with Houndmouth (SPACE, Evanston)
The British band has elements of Fleet Foxes, Jeff Buckley and even Explosions in the Sky. The vocals are maybe a little bit precious, but live, it works. As it happens, I just found a copy of their debut record for $2, and listened to it over the weekend.

Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
Son of legendary tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, just a few days after what would have been his late father's birthday. Incidentally, this is the first sighting in a while of drummer Greg Hutchinson, who beat me out for a spot in the McDonalds Tri-State Jazz Band when I was back in high school, and rightfully so, seeing as how I was spending my time going to Peter Gabriel shows instead of listening to Ravi's dad.

Anthrax with Testament (The Vic)
There's an alternate timeline where the thrash-metal band really did change their name to "Basket Full of Puppies" after the post-9/11 anthrax mailings. I think it's going to be featured in the final season of Fringe.

John Scofield Trio (SPACE, Evanston)
See Wednesday's listing.

9.28   friday
Steve Vai with Beverly McClellan (House of Blues)
Once he joined Whitesnake way back in the 90s, the former Zappa and David Lee Roth guitarist started to lose me, but along with Buckethead, he's still up at the top of the list when it comes to complicated instrumental pyrotechnics. The material just seems willfully oblivious to the last ten or fifteen years of popular music, but it's not like his stuff was overly influence by popular music in the first place, so that may be a meaningless point.

Thee Oh Sees with Ty Segall, Bare Mutants (Logan Square Auditorium)
I saw Ty Segall tape an interview and live performance for Sound Opinions a month or two ago, and I don't hear what the indie and punk rock kids dig about it. His new "concept" record, in particular, seemed like it was trying to be highbrow, but coming from a sort of immature Warped Tour context, it was just kinda dumb.

Dry the River with Fort Frances (Schubas)
See Thursday's listing, only down in the city this time.

Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

9.29   saturday
DIVER (Fado Irish Pub)   SEE COZ LIVE!
Tony's Gibson SG is finally ready for action and will be making it's debut appearance with the band, and from what I've been told, it sounds "devastating."

Mission of Burma with Bear Claw (Lincoln Hall)
The Reader calls the seminal post-punk band's new record "some of the trickiest and most complicated music" they've ever played, and apparently they take playing such complicated material live as a challenge.

Hospitality with Teen (Schubas)
Not only do we have Here We Go Magic this week, but we have another band that was started by that band's former keyboardist in openers Teen.

Jazzy Jeff with ?uestlove, Cosmo Baker (Metro)
Wait, ?uestlove is here this week? I'm guessing DJ sets from all three, even though it's upstairs.

Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

9.30   sunday
Ben Folds Five with Kate Miller-Heidke (Chicago Theatre)
After several solo albums and some TV musical reality show judging, Ben Folds has returned to, um, the fold of his original band. I feel like I've heard good things about the new record, but I haven't heard it yet.

Grizzly Bear with Lower Dens (Riviera Theatre)
I still haven't quite worked out the deer, bear and other animal bands, but this one's big enough to play the Riv, so there. Ana Margasak describes some of their music as "abstruse."

Ravi Coltrane Quartet (Jazz Showcase)
See Thursday's listing.

Comments

Particularly funny edition this week, man. See also: "seeing as how I was spending my time going to Peter Gabriel shows instead of listening to Ravi's dad."

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